A Lifetime of Memories
by Neo Horizon
Summary: Konoka and Setsuna have always been close friends, but how will things change now that they've formed a pactio and become partners? KonoSetsu
1. The Start of Everything

From this point forward, there was no turning back. After years of learning and training and years of protecting each other and their friends, it was finally time for them to create a pactio.  


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**A Lifetime of Memories**  
Chapter 1: The Start of Everything (Beginnings)

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"A...are you ready?"

The words, a delicate whisper that trembled from Setsuna's lips, were directed toward the dark haired healer that stood across from her. Her eyes were fixed intently upon Konoka and the other girl gazed back at her with the same level of intensity. The mage did not respond to the question, but Setsuna had no doubt that Konoka was ready. After all, the question she had asked was more for her own benefit than Konoka's.

Beneath their feet, a magical circle suddenly blazed into existence, blasting away the fallen sakura petals that had rested there just moments ago. Setsuna shielded her eyes at the unannounced flash of light that accompanied the shining symbols she now stood upon. She and Konoka had been standing in near darkness among the sakura trees with only the glow of a crescent moon to see by, but now they had the radiance of the pactio circle to illuminate their surroundings.

The place that Konoka had chosen for them to complete their pactio, a secluded grove of sakura trees in the depths of the Konoe estate in Kyoto. This was a place where they had spent their childhood, a place that housed what felt like a lifetime's worth of memories. It was a place that had a special meaning to both of them and was, in their eyes, the perfect choice of venue. More than that, they were alone and would remain that way throughout their pactio ceremony, something that Setsuna didn't think would happen since her classmates had been so adamant about seeing her and Konoka form their partnership. In the end, however, Konoka had been surprisingly firm about them receiving complete privacy for this moment.

As Setsuna lowered the arm she had raised to shield her eyes from the bright light, Konoka's serene face came back into view. The mage wore an unmistakable grin of relief from successfully creating the pactio circle and the swordsman couldn't help but smile back despite her nerves.

"Secchan..."

A warm hand was held out to her as kind, gentle waves of magic began to flow into her body from the magical circle. It was reminiscent of the first time Setsuna had made a pactio, but the feeling was much more intimate. She slowly took the mage's hand as her emotions began to steady themselves. Something in the back of Setsuna's mind told her that she should be panicked by the kiss that would soon take place. In all of the years that she and Konoka had known each other, they had never been more than friends. Even now, at this very moment, they were just friends. However, thanks to the magic that was streaming into her body and the feel of Konoka's warm hand within her own, the prospect of a kiss brought only joy and excitement to the swordsman.

Their eyes never left each other, not until the very last moment. Their gazes were fixed from the moment their hands clasped and they stepped into each other's bodies until the final seconds when they leaned toward each other, their breaths dancing on each other's lips, until they finally came together in a kiss. Only then did Konoka and Setsuna finally close their eyes and focus all of their senses upon the first time that the others' lips had met their own, taking in and memorizing a moment that could possibly never happen again.

Necessity, the need to protect each other in a world that was no longer safe, played a big role in pushing them toward this pactio, but there was an unmistakable desire that emanated from both girls for this pactio to be formed. And as the light of the magical circle faded away, leaving a pactio card in the wake of its dying glow, the two remained locked in their first real kiss, lost within the heat and passion that not even the greatest magic could produce. In the past they had just been friends, in the present they were partners, and in the future, hopefully, they would be something more.

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**Author's Notes:** This is the first of a 100 fic challenge based on 100 predetermined words. Of course, all 100 fics will be about Konoka and Setsuna. :) All fics will be from the same universe (one that is independent of the other fics that I've written), though I can't really promise that everything will be written on chronological order. ;; Most of these fics will probably be fairly short as well. Somewhere around 400 words maybe? And no more than 1000 unless I get carried away.

Also, the word in parenthesis after the chapter title is the prompt that I based the chapter on. In this case, I had to use "beginnings". Anyway, I hope you'll stick with this fic until the very last chapter. But if 100-fic-challenge-type stories aren't for you, I hope you at least like this chapter. :) And as always, please comment! 


	2. From Friends to Partners

An exhausted Setsuna lay sprawled out on Mahora's grassy ground with her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms spread out above her head. To say that the swordsman was tired was a horrible understatement. What Setsuna felt at this moment was beyond tired, even beyond exhausted. It was now a lazy Sunday afternoon and lazy was exactly how Setsuna felt after she and Konoka had traveled to and from Kyoto in the last two days. Traveling long distances by train had never really agreed with Setsuna.

Still, despite the crippling fatigue, Setsuna couldn't help but smile. She closed her eyes against the bright sun with a content sigh. Tired though she was, Setsuna was thrilled to have been able to make a pactio with Konoka. The swordsman felt her hand instinctively move and press itself against her hip where the new pactio card was tucked securely into the waistband of her skirt. 

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**A Lifetime of Memories**  
Chapter 2: From Friends to Partners (Teammates) 

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_"I'll never forget this feeling,"_ Setsuna firmly promised herself. The kiss with Konoka felt more like a dream than reality but the pactio card was proof that it had happened. And if the day came when they had to terminate their temporary pactio, Setsuna knew that she still wouldn't forget the memory that was burned forever within her heart.

"What are you smiling about?"

Konoka's voice filled the air so unexpectedly that Setsuna jumped in surprise.

"Ojou-sama!"

"I thought I'd find you out here," the mage said as she planted her hands on her hips and looked down at the swordsman. "I went to your dorm this morning and you weren't there so I thought you might have been training."

"I-I was," Setsuna stuttered, "training I mean, this morning... but what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, you weren't in your dorm this morning and I wanted to find you," she said and settled herself beside the flustered Setsuna. "And... I wanted to say 'thanks' again for coming to Kyoto with me this weekend."

"What? I already told you I was happy to go with you," Setsuna mumbled as a light blush began to color her cheeks. "You don't have to keep thanking me."

"But it meant so much to be able to have our pactio ceremony in the place where we spent our childhood together..." Konoka raised her eyes to the sky, realizing for the first time just how beautiful this particular Sunday afternoon was. Setsuna, following the mage's lead, gazed up at the crystal blue sky as well, thankful for this time that she could spend with Konoka.

"Do you still think about the time we spent together as kids?" the swordsman asked. She blushed as the finals words tumbled out of her mouth, regretting it instantly. It was such an embarrassing question and Setsuna couldn't believe that she had even asked it. A sudden feeling of insecurity tugged at the swordsman's heart and she almost wished she could take back the question.

"All the time."

"Huh...?" Setsuna quickly turned her head to look at Konoka and found that the mage was already looking back at her. Konoka had responded so quickly to the question that Setsuna felt a bit disoriented. "What d—"

"Our childhood," Konoka repeated without a trace of embarrassment. "I think about it all of the time. Our friendship, our past, it means the world to me," she said in a soft voice. The mage watched and felt her heart warm as Setsuna blushed and looked away. "And our future as partners means the world to me too." Still smiling, Konoka lay down and looked back up at the sky, not expecting Setsuna to find a response to her sentimental remarks. Together, they lapsed into a comfortable silence. After a moment of time, Konoka felt the swordsman lie down beside her and, to the mage's surprise, she spoke.

"From friends to partners," Setsuna swore, her words coming out in a gentle murmur. "I promise I'll protect you."

With a smile, Konoka slowly moved her hand until it covered Setsuna's. "From friends to partners," she repeated. "I'm in your care, Secchan." 

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**Author's Notes:** I apologize for my combination of being busy, being a slow writer, and being so lazy. Honestly, I truly feel bad that you guys read the writing of someone like me... ;;

Spring break is coming up and I hope to finish off that chapter of Crimson Wings that hasn't been worked on in ages. I pray that the motivation to complete it doesn't fade away once break actually starts.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave reviews for your lazy, undeserving author! And one final note: please email me directly rather than PMing me if you wish to contact me. You have a significantly higher chance of getting a reply from me if you email me.


	3. A MidSunday Afternoon's Dream

**Author's Note:** This chapter immediately follows the previous one.

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**A Lifetime of Memories**  
Chapter 3: A Mid-Sunday Afternoon's Dream (Light)

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"Mhmmm..." The slow, lazy moan of content escaped Konoka's lips and reverberated in the air around her. Lying outside in the warm sun with Setsuna had apparently caused Konoka to fall asleep, but the mage didn't mind. After all, it was Sunday afternoon and the young girl was more than willing to keep her eyes closed and nap the afternoon away. With a small yawn, Konoka buried herself deeper in her soft pillow and began to--

_"Wait, what pillow? Since when do people have pillows when they fall asleep outside?"_

The sudden realization brought Konoka back to her senses and the mage immediately lifted her head to see what she what soft substance she was lying upon. To her embarrassment, a crisp white blouse and neatly tied Mahora tie came into view and Konoka quickly realized she had been burrowing her head upon...

"S-Secchan!" Konoka promptly pulled herself into a kneeling position using her arms to lift herself up and off of the swordsman. Setsuna, unlike the sleepy mage, seemed to be very much awake. The other girl was lying on her back with her arms folded behind her head. Upon Konoka's startled awakening, Setsuna merely propped herself upon her elbows and peered sheepishly back at the mage.

"O-ojou-sama," Setsuna stuttered back in response. A faint blush was already present on the girl's face and the color slowly began to deepen as she spoke. "H-how was your nap?"

"It... it was fine," the mage replied, averting her eyes briefly as she fought to regain control over her shaky voice. To be honest, Konoka was very unnerved by the situation she had awoken in. Normally, not wanting to scare Setsuna away with a strong showing of her emotions, Konoka tried to avoid interacting with the swordsman in such a way that could be view as "romantic". The mage always tried to limit herself to behaving as only a friend would when she was with the swordsman, but she suddenly found that she had crossed into new territory by nuzzling between Setsuna's breasts in her sleep.

However, Konoka took it as a good sign that Setsuna had yet to run away from her. Perhaps the swordsman didn't read too much into her careless slipup as Konoka thought she had. Still, Setsuna's cluelessness couldn't distract the mage from lustful reasons that caused her body to act the way it had in the first place. Plain and simple, Konoka had been having a rather lustful dream that tried to manifest itself in the real world. The mage felt her cheeks flush at the memory and she prayed to any higher power that was listening that she wasn't blushing as brilliantly as she thought she was. No such luck.

"Are you feeling alright, ojou-sama? Your face is really red..." Setsuna's unmistakable tone of concern cut straight through her prayer and the mage gave up trying. Putting on what she hoped was an unconcerned expression, the mage finally turned her gaze upon the swordsman and tried to smile brightly.

"I-it must be the hot sun. It's just so bright out here," Konoka reasoned, hoping to alleviate her partner's apprehension. "I guess it wasn't a good idea to take a nap outside."

"Yeah," the swordsman immediately agreed, standing up and offering a hand to the other girl. Before Konoka could accept her help, Setsuna, placed a steadying arm across her back and began lifting her to her feet. "We should probably get back to the dorms."

"Yeah, we should." As Konoka got to her feet, she turned to offer her thanks to the other girl and was met by Setsuna's shy but sensitive smile. It was a radiant smile that never failed to quicken Konoka's heart and it was times like these that the mage wondered just how long she would have to wait before confessing her feelings to the girl she loved.

_"I'll wait as long as I have to,"_ Konoka thought as she tightly held on to Setsuna's supportive hand, _"but I hope this wait doesn't last forever._

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**Author's Notes:** Heh, forgive me if you thought the title was corny. I liked it though, for the record. ;) Anyway, just taking a quick opportunity to practice my writing skills before working on chapter 6 of Crimson Wings. This also doubles as an opportunity to play with Konoka and Setsuna in a lighter manner as CW will soon take a darker turn... Alas, I enjoyed writing this chapter. :) I hoped you enjoyed reading it, too.


	4. Cherished Moments

**Author's Note:** This chapter immediately follows the previous one.  


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**A Lifetime of Memories**  
Chapter 4: Cherished Moments (Days)

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"Something about today feels odd."

It was a simple observation that Setsuna murmured under her breath. She voiced the thought without realizing it, only noticing that she had spoken when Konoka responded to her observation.

"Odd? How so, Secchan?"

The gentle query broke the extended silence that had developed as Konoka and Setsuna walked hand-in-hand back to the dorm. The swordsman jumped and dropped the hand that she held, surprised by the reply. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts, so lost in the simple moments of walking her ojou-sama back to the dorm in peace, that she almost forgotten that it might be possible for the silence to be broken.

"W-well..." Setsuna paused after her stutter, taking the moment to gather her thoughts to respond. She also took the moment to feel annoyed at herself for allowing Konoka's delicate hand to escape her grasp. The dying warmth of Konoka's fingertips still lingered upon her own, begging Setsuna to reach out behind her and catch the mage's hand again, but Setsuna couldn't fight through her embarrassment to do so. She would just have to enjoy the rest of the walk back to the dorms without the comfort of Konoka's hand.

"Well, I just meant it was odd th-t-that..." Another stutter.

A sideways glance behind her told Setsuna what she already knew. Konoka had slipped her hand back into Setsuna's and intertwined their fingertips, ensuring that they wouldn't lose each other again. It was a smooth motion performed with such ease that, had she been lost in thought again, Setsuna might not have noticed the action.

And there, just like that, Setsuna could pinpoint the reason why today was so odd. The day, thus far, had been filled with tiny yet significant occurrences that were filling Setsuna with an overwhelming joy. Waking up with Konoka's pactio card on her bedside table, being tracked down by Konoka in the late morning, taking a nap beside her only to awaken with the mage on her chest, walking hand-in-hand with Konoka, their fingers intertwined... was it wrong for her to find all of this odd?

Or maybe she was questioning if it was all right to be so happy? It was like Setsuna was deliriously happy, that nothing could bring her down from the impossibly high level of happiness that forming a pactio with Konoka had elevated her to. She was on cloud nine, or more like cloud nine hundred, if clouds went that high. Setsuna was indescribably happy, and she found that odd. But...

"It's odd that the sky is so blue today," Setsuna finally said, when she was able to find her voice. A white lie. If only to save herself some embarrassment, the swordsman felt that a small lie in this instance would be harmless.

"I think it's always been this blue," Konoka responded after a short pause. "It's just that we've never been so happy to have noticed it before."

Setsuna's breath caught in her throat and she quickly let it out in a short laugh.

_"So much for saving myself some embarrassment,"_ Setsuna thought to herself, knowing that Konoka was absolutely right. She said nothing, however, and just squeezed the hand she held in response.

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**Author's Notes:** So how long do you think I can go before I throw the first curveball into their currently happy world? And don't tell me you thought this would be 100 chapters of pure bliss between our favorite swordsman and mage. ;) The first dark turn is looming on the horizon...

What else is looming on the (neo) horizon? CW #6! ...if only I would work on it some more. Nag me for it. Nagging has been known to work and no one wants it to be done more than I do, so nag me for it. Just don't be mean about it. :P 


	5. Not Yet

**Author's Note:** This chapter takes place a few days after the previous chapter.  


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**A Lifetime of Memories**  
Chapter 5: Not Yet (When)

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There were things in life that Setsuna was good at. Swordsmanship, training, fighting strategy... but math wasn't one of these things.

"I've got to find the volume of the top part... to get the length of that side... and use that to find the surface area..." Setsuna mumbled to herself as she chewed on her lower lip. Her right hand tapped a mechanical pencil rhythmically against her desk while she labored to make sense of what she had just mumbled. It took her more than 20 minutes to figure out _how_ to solve the problem, but doing the actual solving seemed like it would be even more of an uphill battle.

"Let's just pretend that it's done," she muttered in disgust, throwing down her pencil and going over to her bed. The swordsman flopped onto her comforter just as her dorm room door opened. There was only one person in the world who would barge into her room without so much as a knock, so she continued to lie on her bed as light footsteps approached her.

"It's done," Setsuna mumbled, preemptively responding to Konoka's unanswered question. She opened a single eye in time to catch a disbelieving smile on the mage's lips.

"Done, huh...?" Konoka playfully attacked her with a pillow and Setsuna allowed it to hit her in the stomach. "So if I were to check over this allegedly completed homework, would I find a correct answer for every question?" Setsuna picked up the pillow and used it to cover her face. "Would I find _any_ kind of answer for every question?" The swordsman decided not to respond and continued to hide behind her shield.

Konoka heaved an exasperated yet amused sigh and flopped down on the bed next to Setsuna. "Do you need help with your homework?"

"Perhaps," Setsuna admitted slowly, emerging from behind the pillow to face the other girl.

Konoka winked in response and held the expression for a moment before closing her eyes. "I'll help you, but in a little while..."

The fatigue was evident in the mage's voice as she said this. Setsuna murmured her thanks, but did not question why Konoka sounded tired. This sequence of events was more or less a nightly ritual between them. Setsuna spent her early evenings training or helping Asuna to train and then tried to finish her homework before going to bed. Konoka spent her early evenings completing her homework before being trained to exhaustion by Evangeline.

On nights where the training wasn't too taxing, she would visit Setsuna to help her out with her homework or to at least say goodnight before returning to the room she shared with Asuna to sleep. Setsuna knew how worn-out the training could leave the other girl, which was why she was always reluctant to ask for help or to let on that she needed help with her homework.

"Hey," Setsuna whispered, gently tapping the pillow against the mage's head. "Lift your head." Eyes still closed, Konoka did as she was told and rolled onto the pillow that was offered to her. She wrapped her arms around its softness and buried her face into it with muffled sounds of approval. "You're welcome," the swordsman murmured, not actually hearing the thanks, but knowing that it was implied.

"Secchan," Konoka mumbled into the pillow, her eyes still closed, "when are you going to activate your pactio card?"

The swordsman held her breath, frozen by the familiar question. In the five days since coming to possess the card, she had been asked that question just as many times by Konoka. And it was always the same question, always "when?" Setsuna almost hoped that she would ask "why?", because they "why?" was easy, though a little embarassing.

Activating a pactio card could be a very intimate experience. Every time Setsuna held the card, ready to activated it and see what kind of power it possessed, she trembled to think how it would feel to have Konoka's magic course through her body. She wondered if Konoka, who was fairly new to the magic world and had only ever activated a card created with someone she thought of as a young brother, knew that pactios were formed between lovers as often as they were formed between teammates. Setsuna certainly knew, and that knowledge created the response to "why?

"Not yet..." Setsuna answered, giving the same response she had used for the past few days.

"You know, I should start not accepting that answer," the mage responded, opening a weary eye. "But I guess it'll have to do for now."

"It'll happen, just..."

"'Not yet', I know," finished Konoka, closing her eyes with the hint of a smile dancing on her lips. "I just wonder when 'not yet' will become 'now...'" Her breathing slowly evened out, letting Setsuna know that she had fallen asleep.

_"I wonder that too,"_ Setsuna thought to herself. She watched Konoka's sleeping face until she became too tired to keep her own eyes open. Her homework lay unfinished and forgotten on her desk, but she could complete tomorrow. There would be time... they would have time. 


End file.
